The South Asian Path of Development: A Historical and Anthropological Perspective
Akio Tanabe ()
Additional contact information
Akio Tanabe: University of Tokyo
Chapter Chapter 1 in The Cultural Basis of Economic Growth in India, 2022, pp 1-27 from Springer
Abstract:
Abstract This chapter explores the cultural basis of economic development in the long-term history of India. India has always been a meeting place of diversities, where the development path is “diversity-driven”. It did not rely solely on enhancement of productivity, but more on diversification of knowledge leading to the multiplication of the kinds of products and services. Early-modern India developed a socio-economic system that adapted to seasonal and inter-annual variations in rainfall, managed risks through a system of shares, and accumulated the fruits of labor in the form of specialized skills in social groups. The colonial period saw a partial divergence from the development path when caste hierarchy was “traditionalized” and various social groups were “peasantized”. Today, we see a reconvergence to the diversity-driven path where the post-peasant masses are diversifying sources of income to secure livelihood and increase life chances. Also, there is a new reassembling of diversities where varied skills and knowledge meet and give rise to innovations. The agenda for the Indian economy lies in mediating and enabling a smooth linking between various sectors and modes of production with a balance between the rural and the urban, agricultural and non-agricultural, informal and formal, and livelihood and profit.
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:
There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:crechp:978-981-15-9305-5_1
Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9789811593055
DOI: 10.1007/978-981-15-9305-5_1
Access Statistics for this chapter
More chapters in Creative Economy from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().